Dreams of a distant past
by BiShoujoMiharu
Summary: With Katara and Zuko both ruling their countries they hadn't spoken in four years. Recently their thoughts drifted to each other as memories haunted their dreams. Will these two linger in the past or find each other in present?
1. Intro

After the war ended six years ago the gaang went their separate ways. Although they tried there wasn't ever the time for a reunion of all friends.  
Some saw each other on regular basis, other's lost touch. With Katara ruling the southern water tribe while cooperating with their sister tribe, she  
had no time to see the most occupied fire lord. In fact the two hadn't spoken or written in four years. Recently their thoughts drifted to one another  
as memories haunted their dreams. Will these two linger in the past or find each other in the present?


	2. Thoughts long relinquished

**Thoughts long relinquished**

Her warm breath against his skin. Her heartbeat against his chest. A smile graced her tender lips. All he could do was return the favor as he watched the young waterbender. '_A girl with an attitude, but also a lot of love for her friends.' _Slowly he removed his muscular arm from under her and wrapped it around her shoulders. As the firebender started caressing her hair he noticed a change in her facial expression. She looked relaxed, almost peaceful. It caused another even warmer smile to appear upon his lips. _'This the Avatar's girl.'_ The waterbender snuggled up to him, hiding her face in his chest. Even though this was one of the few times lately that he had been wearing a shirt, he could feel her breathing almost as if it were directly on his skin. The grip she had on his shirt probably meant nothing, but it fed his pride somewhat. Both his arms wrapped around her now. Looking up at the sky he decided; _'Just for tonight.'_ The firebender's eyes closed and he drifted off.

Zuko snapped his eyes open and looked at the woman holding onto him. _'Mai.' _She held onto him loosely, still asleep. The firelord gently removed her arms from around him and got out of bed. He made his way to the bathroom and splashed some water in his face. _'When will these dreams finally stop? They're nothing but a nuseanse now. Katara and I haven't seen each other in over.. four years?'_ He was unsure of the time that had passed, but realized all too well it'd been too long. _'What are these dreams trying to tell me?'_ He let out a soft growl, careful not to wake his wife. _'Should I tell Mai..? It probably doesn't mean anything at all..'_ Despite the fact that he told himself such a lie, he knew he wouldn't tell Mai no matter how many excuses he made up. His affection towards Katara had remained unanswered, as it should be. _'Who steals a friend's girlfriend?'_ And with those thoughts he walked back into his bedroom. A smile appeared at the sight of his sleeping wife, but not one he'd remembered in his dream just now. _'Why are these dreams so.. accurate? It doesn't make any sense.'_ Though partially in denial with his feelings Zuko had a very good point. Even he had forgotten about the scene that'd just played out in his dreams for some years already, but now he remembered all too well. It'd happened when Aang was missing, at the order of the White Lotus' camp. She'd drifted off beside him and after about ten minutes she'd fully snuggled up to him. Zuko had made sure she wouldn't wake to that sight and got up with the rising of the sun. As he climbed back into bed now he smirked faintly. _'She was so innocent then..'_

The smirk he'd held as she snuggled up to him made it all worth it. No one had to know about this for tonight. She needed support, like she'd given him the past weeks and all she'd done was claimed it. The firebender beside her didn't even realize it, it was the perfect scene. She was sneaky enough to be able to sneak a peak every now and then without him noticing. The waterbender had even managed to suppress a faint blush as he'd started caressing her hair. She felt so protected around him, unlike Aang who felt the exact opposite. She mothered him almost every day and she worried about him even more. _Not for tonight.'_ It was a horrible thought for someone who was in her position. One of her friends was missing, a friend she knew had feelings for her and yet she laid with someone else tonight. Yet she decided not to think of him tonight, although he might've been injured or worse. The young waterbender was still confused about her feelings towards the Avatar. All she knew now was that this felt right. She breathed in heavily as both his arms wrapped around her. _'He smells so.. familiar.. so good.'_

'_Zuko!'_ The thought went through her mind and in the same split-second her eyes opened up, only to notice the man beside her held no black hair, no hair at all. He didn't wear any red garments and he'd kicked the sheets half off of them both. His mouth was wide open as he breathed through it in his sleep. _'That's the fifth time this week I had this dream..'_ She found Aang's current expression quite adoring and fought to suppress a giggle. Gently she caressed his head a bit and placed a soft kiss against his forehead. _'I still treat him like a child..'_ Katara got up and walked away slowly. Aang was known to wake up quite easily from even a soft squeak, but in return the lady of the southern water tribe had developed great stealth. She put on a silk robe over her warm nightgown and walked to the kitchen. Katara knew she wouldn't be able to sleep again after these dreams, no matter how hard she tried. She started cutting up some vegetables and while morning came closer she prepared them some soup. The servants were used to their queen being there earlier by now, even though it still looked quite odd to them.

**-****  
NEW: Author's note:**  
I believe some people didn't read the story because of my strange formats, I'm sorry about that. I'll reupload the entire story (up to the present) in the normal format. Sorry for the inconvenience!****

OLD: Author's note:  
I hope you all enjoy this story as much as you've enjoyed 'Change'. It will be a completely different story, but I don't wanna give it all away. Let me just say; Ursa will appear. I hope you'll all review and fav. The story may get some sexual mature content later on.

I request for all **RPG** fanatics, like myself to take a look at the special note.****

Special note:  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	3. Mother's unconditional love

**Mother's unconditional love**

"Katara, dear. Wake up." The waterbender's eyes closed somewhat tighter. _'That's not Aang's voice.' _Once more her name was called, but she didn't feel compelled to look as she'd felt sleep deprived for the last couple of days. _'Who is that..?'_ Her sleepy mind just couldn't figure out who this person was, not even after the fourth call. Finally she pried her eyes open to find herself looking at someone she hadn't seen for so long. The lady of the southern water tribe blinked several times before accepting this image.  
"Mom?" In a haste to embrace her mother Katara got upto her feet and took her first attempt. For some reason, in some way, she was able to hold onto her mother. Though her skin felt colder than she remembered, it was unimaginably fulfilling to be able to hug her after all this time. Kya caressed her daughter's hair gently as she too embraced her.  
"I'm here, sweety." Hearing her mother's voice was even more comforting than the hug itself. She would've never imagined being rejoined with her mother after such a long time. After such a long period of time. After-.. _'But she died.'_ Katara moved away, looking into her mother's eyes.  
"You.. Who are you?" Love made place for suspicion as the waterbender stared up into her mother's blue eyes. The eyes that held so much love for her. Kya smiled content at her daughter, remaining silent for a moment before telling her;  
"Look around you, dear."

Zuko held his mother as though he'd decided to never let go again.  
"I found you. I finally found you," He whispered softly as Ursa caressed his hair gently. A single tear slid down her cheek, catching her son's attention. The firebender looked up only to see her gaze at him in tears, she was heartbroken. Ursa looked away for a moment and it was then that Zuko realized where he was, or rather where he wasn't. He backed away from his mother. _'Where.. is this place..?' _Before he could ask the woman before him the same question she'd already answered;  
"The spirit world. Zuko.. I'm-.." Ursa sounded quite calm, though the tears were still threatening to fall.  
"Dead?" He finished her sentence.

"I thought Aang was the only one who could come here.. who could return after-.. Am I stuck here?" Kya smiled warmly, reassuring her daughter and placed her hands on Katara's shoulders.  
"I would never let that happen to you. An exception was made. This is the only time you'll see me here," Her mother seemed sad, but even more so happy. Kya embraced her daughter once more.  
"But this isn't the last time I'll see you, right?" The waterbender asked, clearly wanting for her mother to tell her yes on this one, but that request wasn't met. Kya shook her head slowly.  
"I'm sorry, sweety. The spirits have an important message for you, but I'm not the one who'll explain it further than this; Form a union with the firelord." Katara moved away from her mother once more to look into her eyes.  
"Why does the spirit world involve themselves in our world's politics?"

"Zuko, your father was once a good man. I loved him, I truly did. But when the time came to choose between the man lost in his own greed and my son, the choice was clear. I fled the nation.. but was discovered during the invasion of Ba Sing Se by one of the Dai Lee agents. Azula ordered my death, because of my treason to the fire nation. She lost her mind shortly after that."  
"You were in Ba Sing Se? Why didn't I find you there? I could've prevented your death!" Zuko's frustration got the better of him as tears filled his eyes. Ursa grabbed hold of her son and held him tightly.  
"None of this was your fault. I'm proud of everything you've accomplished, Zuko." Some tears gently slid down Zuko's cheeks. He'd blamed himself for so long. She died protecting him. In the very city he'd kept his residence for such a long time, but even that hadn't been enough to find her. The firebender held onto his mother gently.  
"It was my choice," Were the words that followed and for some reason Zuko felt relief. His mother never blamed him. No matter how much everyone else did, no matter how much he had uptil now. _'She never blamed me.' _  
"I do have a request though, dear. One that will be explained further by someone other than me; Form a union with the Lady of the water tribes."  
"Katara?" His mother nodded slowly.  
"The spirit world has decided to involve itself in your world to change it for the better. Life in the fire nation might be going well, but in the previously oppressed countries nothing's further from the truth. You need a strong union to solve these problems. Show them the fire nation has changed for the better in every perspective. This is the foundation that's needed for a balanced world."  
"Why couldn't I do this myself?"  
"The other nations might think the fire nation is taking over once more if you alone do this. The most damaged country during the previous war was the southern water tribe, besides the air nomads, but you can't fix that which has been lost. The southern water tribe's benders were slaughtered one by one. A union between the fire nation and the water tribes would be the less critizised. The most respected union possible."  
"Why can't the avatar solve those problems instead?" Zuko appeared reluctant to work with the southern water tribe, no, rather reluctant to work with their queen.  
"His main project is finding airbenders like himself. Don't keep him from such an important task. The fire nation needs to show initiative to repair all that was broken before."  
"Katara and I haven't spoken for years."  
"The other spirit that will guide you, she'll tell you why you two work well together. It's not my place to tell you."

"Why not?" Katara asked, somewhat surprised.  
"I know nothing of someone else's son. Only of my own children." Kya told her, lifting her daughter's face by supporting it with her hand.  
"Mom.. I've got a question." Katara appeared insecure, her eyes watery.  
"I did it out of love for you and our family. I have no regrets. Please tell them I love them, all of them."  
"I'll always be with you." Kya kissed her daughter's forehead gently. Wind moved around them as the waterbender heard yet another person call her name. She looked around, but her vision seemed to have left her. She sat upright in bed, snapping her eyes open. Aang looked at her with worries.  
"Katara, are you ok?"

-**  
NEW: Author's note:**  
I believe some people didn't read the story because of my strange formats, I'm sorry about that. I'll reupload the entire story (up to the present) in the normal format. Sorry for the inconvenience!****

OLD: Author's note:  
I hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as the last one. Please review, fave and watch if you like it!

I request for all **RPG** fanatics, like myself to take a look at the special note.****

Special note:  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	4. An unexpected visitor

**An unexpected visitor**

"Calm down Aang. She said nothing more than a union."  
"That could mean anything! Are you sure this was your mother?" Katara was hurt, but also enraged by his statement.  
"You think I wouldn't recognize my own mother?" Her anger was clearly shown, yet Aang just couldn't stop this argument now, he went on.  
"The Avatar is the bridge between the two worlds. If it's so important this union be formed then why wasn't the Avatar informed of this? Maybe a spirit deceived you." Childishly Aang had decided not to stop this argument until he'd won it. In the process of this fight he failed to notice the effect his words had on her.  
"I'm not stupid, Aang! This wasn't a message for you. It was a message to me!" There were tears in Katara's eyes. For some reason she'd expected him to be happy for her. She hadn't seen her mother for so long.  
"It's impossible. You were asleep, not in the spirit world!" His stubbornness just wouldn't tire out, but neither would Katara's at this point. She was convinced it had been her mother and no one was going to take that away from her, not even the avatar.  
"I know where I've been!"  
"You've been having weird dreams for weeks, haven't you?" The waterbender looked at him somewhat surprised and fell silent for a moment, but then quickly replied;  
"No, I haven't.." Katara attempted to deny. _'How does he know that?'_  
"You keep waking up early, unable to sleep. You twist and turn every night. And I'm sure I heard you mention the war at least once." She looked away from him, staring at the door for a moment. It was at this point when Aang noticed the tears in her eyes, but he practically ignored them as he went on in a somewhat calmer voice;  
"It's impossible, Katara. Maybe you're just pregnant and your maternal instinct's kicking in. Causing you to think of your own mother and family." The lady of the southern water tribe felt offended by his accusations and moved towards the door. Aang's lips were sealed as his girlfriend left the room without him.

Katara leaned against the wall, ready to collapse. Her hand covered her mouth in a form of shock. _'What if I am pregnant..?'_ The thought of having a child with Aang petrified her. He was still a child himself in her opinion. She brushed the thought away. _'We've only had sex once in the past three months.. I'd just finished my cycle before the last time.'_ Though the waterbender knew sex was quite normal for a couple she'd tried to avoid it as much as possible. When Aang was finally at the age that he wanted to engage in it she'd let him, but only for his enjoyment. She'd never seen why some women enjoyed having sex with their partners, it surely wasn't pleasant to her. Since he'd been her only experience on the subject of sex she assumed it was normal to feel this way.

The lady of the southern water tribe had avoided her partner for two entire days now, but since he hadn't come looking for her, so she wasn't planning on returning anytime soon. In the meanwhile she'd slept in one of their guestrooms. Katara walked through the courtyard, which looked nothing like the one she remembered at the fire nation's royal palace. There was no pond, no grass.. no trees. In fact all you could see was snow, plain snow. She walked through for a moment and then stood still. It'd been a while since she'd bended her element.. There'd been no real need to do so lately. Katara collected some snow and held it in her hand. In the past she'd practised with Aang, just for the fun of it, but that never felt too pleasant. She remembered her battles with Zuko, when he was still their enemy. He'd been a true challenge. Aang went easy on her every time, even though she knew she could beat him at full force. Fighting beside and even with Zuko when he'd joined the group had felt much more fulfilling. Though they hadn't often practiced together, they were a good team back then. A smile graced the waterbender's lips as she thought back at the times she'd managed to beat Zuko. She let the snow fall out of her hand. '_I miss those times..' _Katara didn't dare to admit that it wasn't necesarily those times she missed, they were at war back then after all, but the firelord himself.  
"Katara!" A familiar voice called her and walked towards her. The queen was pleasantly surprised to see her older brother approaching her and met him halfway, hugging him tightly.  
"Sokka." It was a faint whisper, but enough to place a smile upon her sibling's face. He embraced her gently, caressing her back softly.  
"What're you doing here? I thought you were in Kiyoshi?" Katara asked as she looked up at her brother, still holding him faintly.  
"I was, but Suki and her troops have been training for weeks in a row, she decided they deserved a break. So now, here we are." Katara looked past Sokka and noticed Suki standing there, she waved faintly. It took her not more than a second to let go of her brother and head over to Suki, greeting her in the same manner.  
"It's so good to see you two." Katara spoke when she'd letten go of Suki and Sokka'd caught up with her.  
"We missed you too, Katara." Suki replied with a warm smile.

Sitting at the diner table, beside the avatar, Katara silently ate her food. The tension was clear to both Sokka and Suki, so they remained silent as well. It was Aang who broke the silence when he held a letter before Katara's eyes.  
"This was delivered when you were gone.. By messanger hawk." Her eyes widened somewhat as she gently took the letter from him.  
"It's adressed to me, why did you open this?"  
"Do you have secrets for me, then?" The queen remained silent, hoping not to cause a scene in front of her brother, even though their guests had already noticed something was off. Katara went on to reading the letter and smiled faintly at it's contents. _'Firelord Zuko requests an audience with your majesty. Heh, that sounds so formal for Zuko!' _She suppressed the giggle that she nearly uttered at this point and finished reading the entire letter. _'We'll be arriving in a week.'__  
_"Well?" Sokka asked, trying to keep her attention away from the angry face Aang was giving off at this point._  
_"Zuko and Mai are coming over in a week." She'd made sure to throw Mai's name into the mix as well, because she'd seen the effect Zuko's name had on Aang lately.  
"That's great, that means we get to see them as well!" Suki replied cheerfully, holding onto Sokka's hand beneath the table. She'd been holding his hand since they'd both noticed the tension in the room.  
"Yeah, great." Aang replied, still grumpy as ever.

-  
**NEW: Author's note:**  
I believe some people didn't read the story because of my strange formats, I'm sorry about that. I'll reupload the entire story (up to the present) in the normal format. Sorry for the inconvenience!****

OLD: **Author's note:**  
Enjoy this one as well as the last one. I really appreciate all the support here and on Deviantart!

I request for all **RPG** fanatics, like myself to take a look at the special note.****

Special note:  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	5. A long awaited arrival

**A long awaited arrival**

"First you visit your father and sister in jail, after you made sure all those years ago that you wouldn't ever have to see them again and now this? What's with you lately Zuko?"  
"It's about time the fire nation and water tribes start to cooperate in cleaning up my father's mess." Zuko told her as he put the clothes into a bag he planned on taking with him.  
"But why now? Shouldn't you have informed them earlier that we're coming over?" Mai was clearly not up for the idea, she'd enjoyed her time at the palace too much to go back to travelling after all this time. Every meeting there'd been had taken place at their castle, to show the firelord's hospitality, but now his initiative was needed.  
"I already sent them a hawk." Zuko briefly stated, which annoyed Mai.  
"What? Why didn't you tell me?"  
"I told you now, didn't I?" A faint smirk upon his lips as he spoke. Zuko knew quite well why he hadn't told her earlier, she would've protested the entire time and tried to convince him to invite them over instead of going to them. Mai folded her arms and sat down on the bed, looking away from him.  
"Men.." She whispered faintly, but remained silent after that brief statement. The firelord raised an eyebrow at her, but then went on with packing their bags. It took a while before Mai came up with her next question, but it came to her as she watched him pack.  
"Just how long are you planning on staying?" The firebender looked at her, a bit surprised, but then replied;  
"As long as necessarry. We'll see once we get there." Mai's irritation was certainly clear now, if it hadn't been before. He smiled faintly at her and added;  
"You can leave if it takes longer than three days, promise." His wife seemed relieved and kissed his cheek briefly.  
"Thank you." Mai got up and helped him pack, but he removed the clothing she'd just added to their luggage almost immediately.  
"You'll freeze to death in those clothes," He elaborated and smiled warmly at her.  
"Great, so I get to look unattractive and be stuck on a piece of ice for three days." Zuko noticed she was already clinging on to the idea of three days.

"Aang, what's wrong with you? Zuko's your friend too," Sokka asked, confused by the temper the avatar had shown them lately. He'd followed Aang into his study, making sure they'd be alone.  
"Didn't Katara tell you about her dream?" Sokka raised an eyebrow at his friend.  
"You mean her visit to the spiritworld? Yes, she did. She also mentioned your strange reaction to it." Aang avoided Sokka's gaze. There was a brief silence, but then Sokka continued.  
"A union can mean anything. It's about time the countries united to clean up the mess, right?" "Isn't that my job? I'm supposed to balance this world, aren't I?"  
"Aang, you're busy enough with rebuilding the air temples. You can't do everything. This world needs to be able to function on it's own." Another pause followed.  
"You know how hard it's been on Katara without our mother. Aren't you at least glad for her that she finally got to see our mother again? I would've done anything to get the same experience."  
"Not if she told you Suki should be together with Zuko." Aang snapped, finally revealing his biggest fear at present.  
"Katara loves you, Aang. Our mother, the spirits, they saw the great teamwork they've pulled off until now and chose to use this to the world's advantage." This didn't appear to be enough to comfort the airbender and so the swordsman added;  
"Besides, Zuko's married."  
"I guess I overreacted. I've been so busy lately. So far I've found no airbenders yet, the repairs aren't going well at all at this point and I barely see Katara as it is." Sokka smiled warmly, placing his hand on Aang's shoulder, supporting him. A short moment of silence followed.  
"And Katara might be pregnant."  
"Suki as well.." Sokka spoke, proudly. Aang smiled back at his friend. The two hugged for a brief moment, before the swordsman spoke once more;  
"You better make up with my sister, she'll understand."

It felt strange to be aboard a firenation ship once again, since the war he hadn't travelled much at all. The firelord smiled warmly as he saw they were nearing the first few icebergs of the southern pole. The sun was setting, it was really a sight to behold. _'The last time I was here.. I met Aang for the first time. I threatened to take Katara's grandmother.. Yeah, I used to be great.' _Thinking back at the last days together in the gaang caused him to smile once more. _'Katara forgave me. And so did the others..' _Mai walked over to her husband.  
"Zuko, we'll be there in shortly. Shouldn't you be putting on other clothes?" Zuko smiled warmly at his wife.  
"Why?"  
"You look so.. informal. This is a visit of the firelord and his wife, right?" Mai seemed to question his motives. Zuko kissed her cheek briefly and smiled at her once more.  
"Of course. But we're visiting old friends, Mai and our 'formal' clothes were too cold for this kind of weather. I'm sure Katara and Aang are dressed casually as well."  
"Ok." Mai leaned into him a little, leaning over the railing together. This sure took her back. The last time they did this the avatar was their biggest enemy. Now he'd become one of Zuko's friends. _'So much has happened..'_

Watching them walk towards them, Katara wanted nothing more than to greet her old friend. A hug would suffice, she thought. Now that Aang was over his jealousy this wouldn't be a big problem, but she knew it'd displease Mai and perhaps even Zuko. She simply stood still, waiting anxiously for them to be close enough to realize this wasn't another one of her dreams. Zuko stood still before her, that familiar warm smile gracing his lips. _'I've missed him..'_****

-**  
NEW: Author's note:**  
I believe some people didn't read the story because of my strange formats, I'm sorry about that. I'll reupload the entire story (up to the present) in the normal format. Sorry for the inconvenience!****

OLD: **Author's note:**  
Sorry it took longer than expected, but here it is. Zuko and Katara finally in the same room, after 4 chapters. Enjoy!****

Special note:  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	6. The haunting memories  part 1

**The haunting memories – part 1**

The last time they'd seen each other had been such a long time ago. Even though their appearances had changed slightly, their connection hadn't. His warm smile forced a similar reply from her lips. For a moment neither of them had eye for anyone or anything else. Their eyes locked on one another.  
"Welcome, friends," Aang spoke, addressing both Mai and Zuko. He knew Katara wouldn't have gone so far as to call Mai a friend. The airbender knew all too well the two never really connected for some reason. As Aang greeted them he wrapped his right arm around Katara's shoulder, Sokka seemed to disapproved of the airbender's urge to show the firelord that Katara was his.  
"It's been too long." Zuko's statement was brief, but sufficient. The firebender approached Aang and hugged his old friend, a clear manly hug, gently patting the avatar on his back. The airbender returned the favor. Mai seemed hesitant to follow Zuko's example, but finally hugged Katara. A distant, uncomfortable and mostly brief embrace. Suki was next, but wasn't eager either to hug Mai, though to keep the spirit up she did so happily. Katara was releaved when Suki then hugged Zuko, this meant she got to as well. It wasn't that she thought she wasn't allowed to, just that Aang would appreciated it more if it was part of a group greeting than a personal interest. For some reason she didn't believe this was too much for him to ask from her. It took so long before it was her turn, she stood there waiting anxiously. When Suki had released him Zuko almost immediately turned to the waterbender. Once more he showed her his most inviting smile and held his arms open as she leaned in, her arms around his neck. This familiar embrace, his touch, his smell.. She'd missed it all. Katara made sure the hug didn't last longer than the others had and let go again. Zuko looked at her for a moment after she'd released him from her grasp, but remained silent. Mai grabbed hold of his hand and smiled at him as he looked down at her.  
"You guys must be hungry, let's eat," Aang suggested and led the group out of the room.

Mai ate slowly, maintaining all her manners. Every now and then she looked at Zuko as he kept the conversation with the rest going, but she glad to be kept out of it. After all, she had no memories of their group, just of him. Once in a while laughter broke out, but when the memories finally ran out Zuko turned to the present.  
"So, how have you been doing? It must be different now that the southern tribe has been completely rebuild. You've got a lot more people to look after." He asked, looking at Katara with a smile.  
"Nothing I can't handle. I've got great people working for me and helping me out whenever they can. It's been going quite well. The people trust me and confide in me," She replied, a warm smile gracing her lips as well. She took another bite of her food.  
"You've always had that effect on people, as far as I can recall." Aang looked at the firelord, before Katara could reply he spoke;  
"She might be pregnant." Zuko blinked a bit, he'd lost all words. The firelord was speechless.  
"It's not even certain yet, I might as well be sick," The lady of the water tribes quickly added, blushing a bit. She felt embaressed by Aang's sudden outburst. Sokka noticed it took Zuko quite some time to recover and so in an attempt to save his friend from Aang's somewhat immature and unnecessary smirk he added;  
"Suki probably as well." Now it was Suki's time to look somewhat irritated.  
"Sokka, we weren't going to tell anyone until we were certain, remember." Sokka smiled somewhat apologetic, causing Suki to smile faintly. She kissed his cheek briefly.  
"Not looking up to much to having to handle two children, Suki?" Zuko remarked teasingly, causing Suki to laugh but Sokka to utter a defensive;  
"Hey!" Aang went back to finishing his lunch, while Katara looked at him. After a little while she went back to eating as well. Zuko continued the conversation with Sokka and Suki, though he watched Katara every now and time. Although Mai had good manners as well.. with Katara everything looked so.. _'Graceful..'_

A tiny version of Zuko ran towards the person she'd known to be his mother. Though she'd never known her name. Zuko's mom fed the turtleducks some bread, until Zuko grabbed some as well.  
"Hey mom, wanna see how Azula feeds turtleducks?" Zuko launched the entire bread at one of the little ducklings, his mother was obviously not pleased and his smile soon disappeared when he notices that.  
"Zuko, why would you do that?" A question he had no time to think about, as the turtleduckling's mother attacked him, biting in his ankle.  
"Ouch, Ouch ouch, OUCH!" The boy yelled out and his mother removed the duck and put her back in the pond. All the turtleducks swam off together.  
"Stupid turtleduck, why'd she do that?" His mother seated herself beside him and responded;  
"Zuko, that's what mom's are like if you mess with their babies." She pretended to bite him and the prince started to giggle softly. His mother seemed really caring, she reminded her of her own mom.  
"They're gonna bite you back." A hug followed and then a while of sitting by the pond together. _'He must miss his mother very much.'_ When she finished her thought Katara looked around, only to find a woman in the distance. She was in the same scenery as she was the last time she'd seen her mother in one of her 'dreams', so she went for it. Running towards the woman, but as she did she noticed a boy, no a man, running with her. It was young Zuko, he ran towards the woman, his mother. Katara watched them, unable to keep herself from smiling. After a brief hug the young Zuko disappeared and Ursa looked at Katara.  
"I wanted to make sure you knew me.. before I showed myself," Ursa spoke, her voice warm and comforting. The waterbender smiled faintly in return.  
"My mother told me you'd come. Just not who you'd be."  
"Your mother's a wonderful woman. She misses you very much."  
"Zuko misses you. He used to talk about you all the time."  
"Used to?" Ursa asked, teasing the queen somewhat.  
"Well.. I haven't seen him for a while, until today."  
"It was nice to see him again, wasn't it?" Katara blushed faintly and nodded.  
"Ever wondered why you react with a blush to a question like that?" Ursa smiled warmly, she felt trustworthy and very motherly. _'I can see why he loves her so much.'_

-**  
NEW: Author's note:**  
I believe some people didn't read the story because of my strange formats, I'm sorry about that. I'll reupload the entire story (up to the present) in the normal format. Sorry for the inconvenience!****

OLD: **Author's note:**  
I was tempted to let Katara say 'Tiny Zuko you look so cute!" But I decided against it. XD  
Enjoy!****

Special note:  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	7. The haunting memories  part 2

**The haunting memories – part 2**

The soot gently fell down to the ground. It looked so innocent, yet for these people it meant the end. Zuko watched as a younger version of Katara, she must've been eight, told her brother she'd go look for her mom and ran off. The firebender couldn't help but feel the need to follow the young waterbender, and so he did. Running into their tent Katara called out to her mother, but she was shocked to find her mother wasn't alone in their tent.  
"Just let her go and I'll give you the information you want." The unfamiliar fire nation man looked at Kya and then at the little girl. He then yelled at the child;  
"You heard your mother, get out of here!" His voice was filled with anger and irritation. Katara was genuinely scared, but mostly scared of leaving her mother alone.  
"Mom, I'm scared." Her mother smiled warmly at her.  
"Go find your dad, sweety, I'll handle this." Kya's voice was kind and almost reassuring, but Katara still knew she had to hurry. For a moment she looked at the man, tears were in her eyes, then she ran out of their home. He'd heard about this story, but it was heartbreaking to watch. As fast as she could the young girl ran towards her father, chief Hakoda. A man Zuko had met before.  
"Dad, Dad! Please, I think mom's in trouble! There's a man in our house!" The girl was desperately trying to get her dad's attention, he was fighting a firebender, but then soon responded to his daughter's cry for help.  
"Kya!" Hakoda called out and ran, but as Zuko knew already they were too late. The firebender blinked a bit and the scenery disappeared. Kya appeared before him with a warm smile.  
"Firelord Zuko, I've heard much about you." Katara's mother felt trustworthy and seemed like a caring woman. A brave woman as he'd told the waterbender all those years ago. Kya moved closer, her eyes watery. She embraced Zuko tightly.  
"Thank you, for saving my daughter's life." It took a moment before the firebender realized what she'd meant, but then he recalled he had jumped in front of Katara. Catching the blow of Azula's lightning. Kya let go of the surprised man and smiled.  
"Your heart is pure. You're someone she can depend on. Use this friendship to fix your world."

As had been her habit lately, Katara was up early. She sat in the kitchen, drinking some water. You'd never guess she was the queen from the clothes she was wearing. She had on a white nightgown and a blue satin bathrobe, the same attire any of their servants would wear after waking up. Katara's hair wasn't done yet and a bit messy. She drank some tea, sipping from her cup slowly.  
"Be careful not to burn your tongue," The voice of the firelord told her as he stood in the doorway, leaning casually against it. A faint smirk upon his lips as he watched her accidentally drop her cup. For an instant she looked at him, but then got to her knees to pick up the pieces. Zuko did the same, helping her. He gave her a few glances before speaking again.  
"Morning." He'd forgotten how cute she looked, especially with her hair still a bit messy.  
"Morning.." was Katara's distant reply. She was still somewhat dazzled by his presence. They cleaned the pieces up and afterwards the queen made them both some new tea.  
"So.. is this a new habit of yours? I don't remember you waking up this early before. The sun is barely up." Zuko seated himself on the kitchen chair beside hers.  
"I couldn't sleep.." She looked away a bit, avoiding his gaze as she held onto her tea cup. Zuko took a sip from his.  
"I'll never learn to appreciate tea like uncle does.." He commented and put his cup back on the table, smiling faintly.  
"Does your uncle still have that tea shop?" Katara was glad the subject had changed, she didn't feel like discussing her dreams with him. He'd probably think she was crazy, just like Aang did.  
"Yeah, from what I heard business is going well.." Zuko looked away a bit, there was this uncomfortable air around them, now that they were finally alone.  
"So.. congratulations..? On the pregnancy.. I mean." As usual Zuko wasn't good in these kind of situations, he actually looked uncomfortable. Without even responding to his words she looked at him and started to giggle.  
"What?" The firelord was oblivious to what he'd done that was so funny.  
"Nothing, nothing." The lady of the watertribes silenced herself and smiled.  
"You haven't changed a bit." She then added with a familiar, warm smile, causing him to smile as well.  
"Neither have you. Or Aang for that matter.." That last bit caused her smile to disappear.  
"What you said to Suki.. Sokka will be able to provide.. and be a good father."  
"It was just a joke, Katara." He replied, trying to get her from continuing her analysis of his words.  
"But you meant it.. about Aang, right?" Katara seemed somewhat down and so Zuko placed his arm around her shoulders. When she turned towards him, he fully embraced her with both his arms.  
"I think that question isn't for me to answer.. now is it?" The firebender whispered into her ear. Katara held onto his shirt faintly, hiding her face in his chest. After a moment for silence Zuko spoke once more;  
"Every relationship has it's ups and downs.." As much as Zuko wanted to tell her.. How much he still cared for her. How he'd come to doubt his relationship with Mai. He couldn't force her into that direction, she needed to figure it out for herself. Katara let go of him and smiled warmly at Zuko.  
"I guess you're right.." The firelord smiled warmly at her and got off his chair.  
"You're leaving?"  
"I have to go talk to Mai for a moment, I'll be back in time for the meeting."

-**  
****NEW: Author's note:**  
I believe some people didn't read the story because of my strange formats, I'm sorry about that. I'll reupload the entire story (up to the present) in the normal format. Sorry for the inconvenience!****

OLD: **Author's note:**  
Zuko's starting to realize some things. He's a good student xD. Katara on the contrary is kinda slow.. ^^'

I request for all **RPG** fanatics, like myself to take a look at the special note.****

Special note:  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	8. Inviting some old friends' help

**Inviting some old friends' help**

"The increased criminality in the earth kingdom is one of our main issues. They rebel against any help sent from the fire nation, but they don't have many soldiers themselves either since the war. Particularly Ba Sing Se has been tough.. Their king fled the country before the war, but wasn't seen again. The walls have been taken down, in a way to unite the city but it didn't help. Now the entire city is filled with crime and many people are moving away from what once was their safe haven."  
"I-.." Before the queen could respond Aang interrupted her.  
"-The air temples could use some help as well, Zuko."  
"I'll see to it." The firelord responded, then turning his gaze to the lady of the watertribes.  
"Toph lives in Ba Sing Se, right? Couldn't we ask her to gather some soldiers? I mean with all those earthbending tournaments she's been doing she must've found some good contestants." Zuko smiled and nodded faintly. Before he could speak Aang spoke again.  
"Maybe we should ask her over here as well, it'll be fun." Katara smiled somewhat uncomfortably, she wasn't going to oppose his plan, but his point was far from hers, this wasn't about fun. The firelord put some effort into not responding to the avatar's comment.  
"Haru and his father's friends would be excellent assistants for Toph." The name rang a bell, but Zuko couldn't entirely remember who that was. When he'd managed to realize where he'd last heard the name he decided to remain silent.  
"Then it's settled, we should invite them over." Zuko was amazed that Aang was fine with Haru, but had a thing against the firelord. Haru had obviously shown affection towards Katara, where Zuko hadn't really done anything of the sort as far as he knew.

"Haru, that's the guy with the mustache, that Toph said you had a secret thing with, right?" Zuko asked teasingly, walking into the garden, approaching the queen. Katara looked at him, raising an eyebrow, but also blushing faintly.  
"Haru and I didn't have anything, secret or not."  
"But you did like him, didn't you?" The firelord went on, standing only a small distance away from her.  
"You liked Jin, didn't you?" Katara replied in the same teasing tone.  
"What? How do you know about that?"  
"Your uncle told me it took ten minutes to do your hair. You must've been really nervous." She teased, giggling as she enjoyed the look on his face.  
"At least I didn't have girlfriends all around the globe." Zuko went on, still using the teasing tone of voice. They both knew this was a meaningless discussion, but it was kind of fun to talk like this again.  
"Neither did I."  
"Haru, Jet.. Aang. That's three at the age of fourteen." The firelord told her mockingly.  
"Isn't it more pathetic that you had only two at the age of sixteen." Katara bit back, though still in a friendly manner.  
"Where is Mai anyway?" The queen asked out of curiosity, but when she saw the change in expression from Zuko she wished she hadn't asked.  
"In our room. We.. had an argument." Katara looked at Zuko, placed her hand on his shoulder. When he looked into her eyes she smiled warmly.  
"I'm sure it'll get better." The expression, the words, the pity.. it was all well meant, but that didn't justify it well enough for him. He shook her hand off his shoulder.  
"Katara, we don't live in a world where everything is always saved. The war cost a lot of lives, a lot was lost in the ashes of my father's tyranny that can't be rebuild. Not every wound can be healed, not everything can be fixed. Relationships break, people change. That's the way the world works." He spoke with a hint of aggravation in his voice, but tried to hide that from her.  
"What are you saying, are you and Mai breaking up?" She looked worried, but at this point Zuko was focusing his anger towards Mai at her.  
"Your fantasy world doesn't exist, Katara. Wake up already. Aang's not the man of your dreams and Mai's not the girl of mine either." Katara was clearly shocked. Zuko took a moment and then added;  
"I'm just saying.. no one's perfect. Mai and I've been having problems for years and yesterday night they escalated. We're trying to work it out, but I don't hold much hope." He seemed to have finally calmed down. The waterbender approached him and wrapped her arms around his neck, embracing him gently.  
"I'm so sorry."

A month had passed, while they waited for the earthbenders to arrive on the southern pole. Haru had already arrived, as was to be expected, but Toph had written them she'd had some unforeseen circumstances and would take a while longer. Katara had become more and more certain that she was indeed pregnant, but had left Aang to figure it out for himself. She'd been quite busy with all the thoughts spinning in her head. Katara kept trying to think back to the last time she bled, to know how far along she was, but every time she calculated and calculated.. It didn't matter, the same conclusion every time. _'Three months..'_ Although the queen knew that Aang had a hunch, he hadn't spoken about it in two weeks. Katara's belly had gotten somewhat bigger, but she'd been able to hide that with wider clothes. She'd been hiding her nausea from him and frankly everyone had been too occupied with the fighting fire nation couple. Mai kept starting fights when everyone was around, while Zuko was always left to apologize for the ruckus. Of course none of them had minded, they simply wished it'd be resolved. Only Sokka and Suki seemed to understand it wouldn't be done so easily. Aang complained every now and then when the couple wasn't around.  
"They should apologize to each other." It wasn't a stupid suggestion, but the roots of Mai and Zuko's breakdown had been growing deep and long before they got married and they'd only worsened once they got here. As Zuko started seeing more of Katara every day and realizing what Mai had never given him, questions kept rising up. The firelady had only stayed here for so long because she knew she'd lose him if she left now.

-  
**NEW: Author's note:**  
I believe some people didn't read the story because of my strange formats, I'm sorry about that. I'll reupload the entire story (up to the present) in the normal format. Sorry for the inconvenience!****

OLD: **Author's note:**  
Mai and Zuko have relationship problems.. Who didn't see that one coming? Yet they've stayed together quite a while already. Katara still doesn't seem to realize anything though. Well, except for her pregnancy. I've updated two chapters this time, because it's been too long. I finally had the time. Enjoy!****

Special note:  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	9. Group reunion

**Group reunion**

"Toph, you made it!" Aang embraced the earthbender, who seemed somewhat unbalanced on the snowy substance she was standing on.  
"Of course I made it, twinkletoes." She faintly held onto him as well, but as he let go her grip got tighter. Toph shivered a bit.  
"What's wrong?" The airbender asked her, clearly spotting some weakness in her she hadn't wanted anyone to notice.  
"I can't see!" Toph replied, offended by the tone of his voice.  
"And my feet are freezing." Aang smiled warmly and grabbed hold of her hand.  
"I'll bring you to the palace, it has floors and such. You'll see." Toph smiled warmly at his joke, but that was quickly replaced by a not so pleasant look as the air bender lifted her up and started running.  
"Aaah! Put me down, twinkletoes!" She hadn't meant to yell out, but couldn't help it.

Katara sat in the kitchen, drinking her tea. It was already afternoon, Aang just went to pick up Toph. The queen looked at her cup, turned it a little and smiled faintly. 'I should tell Aang..'  
"Morning, Katara," Haru greeted her as he walked into the room. She smiled warmly at him for a moment, but then went back to staring at her cup of tea.  
"I'm just here to grab some breakfast." The earthbender had skipped their joined session of breakfast this morning, probably because of the fighting couple at the table. He opened one of the pan's and the strong smell immediately caused Katara to back away.  
"Is something wrong? You don't look too well." It was meant in a nice way, of course it was, this was Haru speaking to her, but she didn't take it that way.  
"I'm fine!" Katara yelled before storming off, leaving a surprised Haru to wonder what he'd said wrong.

Although they had guests Katara had excused herself from dinner, claiming she was sick. She felt sick, so she figured it wasn't really a lie. The lady of the water tribes had spent the entire afternoon in her bed. So now Zuko, Mai, Sokka, Suki, Aang, Toph and Haru were having dinner together, without the queen present.  
"It's good to see you again, Toph," Sokka spoke, smiling warmly.  
"Likewise, Snoozles." The earthbender didn't hesitate to tease her old friends with their nicknames.  
"S-Snoozles? I never heard that one before." Suki spoke, laughing softly at the nickname. Sokka smiled still, actually enjoying Toph's sense of humor.  
"I've got a surprise.." The earthbender stated and pointed at the doorway.  
"Evening, everybody." Zuko's eyes widened and he immediately got up to hug the man.  
"Uncle, what're you doing here?"  
"Well, I could never resist the offer to go see my nephew. It's been too long." Iroh embraced his nephew in a fatherly way, as he always did. When he let go he briefly greeted the rest of the company. Of course Iroh didn't overlook the lack of interest Mai seemed to have at the moment. Iroh sat down beside Zuko.  
"It's been too long since we were all together like this." Sokka stated.  
"Except for sweetness. Has she been feeling sick a lot lately?" Toph asked out of curiosity. Aang raised his eyebrow, looking at the earthbender.  
"Yes, why?" Zuko and Mai had been silent and in the background the entire dinner, but now Zuko paid more attention to the conversation, looking at Toph when she responded. This seemed to catch his uncle's attention as well.  
"No reason, there's a virus going around, I heard.." Apparently Aang hadn't given her the response she'd expected and thus the earthbender didn't give him the one she was planning on. Zuko feared he knew why she'd brought it up. The expression on Zuko's face didn't puzzle Iroh the least, but it did make him wonder.  
"She might be p-.." Haru spoke, but stopped when Toph bended a rock to come out of the floor and hit the bottom of his feet. Haru simply looked at Toph for a moment and remained silent, finishing his food. The firelord looked at his wife, who hadn't bothered to follow the conversation and sighed softly. His uncle didn't seem to be the only one to notice the lack of love between the two, but he did seem to be the only one who still found it surprising.  
"If you'll excuse me, uncle, I don't think I'm feeling too well either." Zuko got up and walked out of the room, followed by everyone's eyes but Mai's. Most of them figured he didn't feel like being next to Mai at this moment.  
"It's even got him down, must be a tough virus." Toph commented, focusing the attention on herself now.

The queen laid curled up on top of her sheets, clinging onto her bed faintly. There were tears in her eyes. _'I can't have a child with Aang..'_ A shadow appeared, blocking the light that came from the door opening. She hadn't even noticed anyone approaching, but remained laying still in the hope whoever it was didn't notice she was awake. The sound of his footsteps filled the room as the man approached her bed. When he sat down beside her Katara realized who it was._ 'Zuko..?' _Gently a warm hand was placed on her forehead, followed by a comforting smile as his eyes locked with hers. Katara sat up on her bed and looked at him, he'd removed his hand when she suddenly moved.  
"I'm fine." The statement was uncalled for, but caused Zuko to smile once more. He wiped away her welled up tears and then responded;  
"I know." The firelord then pulled her into an embrace, she wrapped her arms around him as well. Katara started crying, hiding her face in his shirt. It took quite a while for her to calm down, but Zuko caressing her hair surely helped a lot.  
"I'm pregnant."  
"I know." There was a brief hesitating before he responded to her, but when he had she seemed to relax a little more.

-  
**Author's note:**  
Yes, this is an actual new chapter. After reuploading most of the chapters because of a failed format and not having a lot of time because of school; here it is. I hope I'll be done with the next one soon enough as well!****

Special note:  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	10. A nightmare coming true

**A nightmare coming true**

"I'm fine." The statement was uncalled for, but caused Zuko to smile once more. He wiped away her welled up tears and then responded;  
"I know." The firelord then pulled her into an embrace, she wrapped her arms around him as well. Katara started crying, hiding her face in his shirt. It took quite a while for her to calm down, but Zuko caressing her hair surely helped a lot.  
"I'm pregnant."  
"I know." There was a brief hesitating before he responded to her, but when he had she seemed to relax a little more.  
"I should tell Aang.. right?" Katara asked, after a while of comforting silence. Zuko smiled warmly, still caressing her hair gently.  
"That's your decision. Why haven't you told him before?" Zuko asked her a question that she was sure he knew the answer to. The queen looked up at him, into his golden eyes.  
"Aang.. He's still a child himself.." The firelord smiled faintly, comforting and wiped another tears away from her left eye.  
"You can't keep this secret from him forever." The statement hurt her, mostly because she'd needed comfort when he'd given her confrontation with her problem. A silence followed.  
"Your relationship with Mai.. You weren't ever happy with her.. Were you?" The question surprised the firebender, but then he responded honestly.  
"When I look back.. It seems as though she never understood me at all. I'm sure she loved me, at one point and I probably, no, I loved her. But that was a long time ago," As he spoke tears appeared in Zuko's eyes. The waterbender wiped his tears away gently.  
"I'm sorry I brought it up. I just.. wanted to understand what went wrong.." It was the truth, Katara hadn't understood before how relationships just faded.. or abruptly ended. Not before the dreams she'd had. Zuko's mother had felt the need to show her his relationship with Mai from the beginning.. till now, the upcoming ending of it all.  
"Mai and I have been fighting for months, maybe even years. Even during my struggle between right and wrong, she didn't seem to care. But I know I have loved her, I wish we could regain that, but we can't. Mai and I, we're only good at fighting these days. This kind of relationship isn't worth the heartache when there's no love either way." The firelord seemed quite calm, despite the tears. Katara smiled warmly at him.  
"Zuko, I'm so sorry it worked out this way." He smiled faintly as her hand went through his hair. He'd gone from comforting her to being comforted himself. There was a moment of silence in which Zuko embraced her faintly.  
"How far along are you?" He asked out of nowhere. It took Katara by surprise, but she smiled faintly and replied;  
"About fifteen weeks if I counted right.. I'm feeling less tired than before and I should stop being nauseous soon. The baby might start moving a bit.." The firelord seemed surprised by her knowledge.  
"I used to help gran gran with deliveries before I met Aang.. I often helped out the pregnant women of our tribe with things like taking care of their other children. Especially during the war, since their husbands were away and unable to help." Katara smiled faintly. Zuko placed his hand on hers and smiled comfortingly at her.  
"You're going to be a great mother, Katara."

"Katara?" She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Zuko. The waterbender and the firelord had fallen asleep together on her bed last night. Katara sat up slowly and noticed her brother standing near the door, his face held an expression of panic. For a moment she thought seeing them sleeping in the same bed had surprised him, but even Sokka wouldn't panic about such a thing.  
"What's wrong?" Sokka looked at his sister, there were tears in his eyes.  
"It's Suki, she.. had a miscarriage." Katara instantly got off her bed and hugged her older brother, holding onto him tightly.  
"She asked if you could help her.. clean herself up." Sokka was barely able to speak at all as he'd burst out into tears. Her brother stood before her as a broken man. Katara kissed his forehead and then let go of him.  
"I'll go to Suki."

Suki laid on the bed, in fetus-position, pressing her knees against her chest. She cried softly and her body shocked faintly. Suki's clothes were covered in blood. Katara sat down next to Suki on the bed and caressed her back gently.  
"How are you feeling?" She eventually asked to break the silence. Suki turned towards Katara and hugged her, crying still.  
"I had nightmares of this happening.. Tell me this is just a nightmare!" The waterbender held onto her friend tightly, caressing her back a little. There were tears in Katara's eyes as well now.  
"I wish I could. I'm so sorry."

After she had taken care of Suki Katara left the room again, finding Sokka sitting on the floor.  
"I told her they were just nightmares.." Her brother barely whispered. He'd stopped crying, but that was only because he'd ran out of tears. Katara kneeled down before her brother.  
"No one could've predicted this, Sokka. It's not your fault." Sokka embraced his sister for a moment and attempted a smile.  
"She's asking for you. You've both lost your child today, you should be with her." Katara smiled warmly and kissed her brother's cheek. She held out her hand and helped Sokka up.  
"Katara?"  
"Yes?"  
"Thank you.." The queen walked to her room to find Zuko was no longer there. For some reason she expected him to still be there. Katara sat down on her bed and sighed softly. _'Suki deserves a child more than I do. I can't even bring myself to tell Aang..' _A tear slipped down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away and it was then that she noticed someone standing in the doorway.  
"I saw you here with Zuko last night." Aang spoke softly. Katara looked up at him, clearly sad.  
"Aang, I can't do this.. I'm to tired to fight about this. Zuko's going through a rough time. I'm trying to support him. Please don't hate me for that." Halfway through she started crying and it kept Aang from his anger. He walked over to her and hugged her gently.  
"What's wrong?" He asked softly.  
"Suki lost her baby.. I.. don't want to loose ours too." It was the truth, but there was more to it. Aang's eyes widened for a moment and he kissed her lips.  
"You won't loose ours, I promise."  
"You can't promise that.. Could you promise me something else?" Aang smiled warmly.  
"Yes, of course."  
"Will you.. let Zuko stay here for a while?"

-**  
Author's note:**  
I felt kinda down because of writing this, although I know I made it up I feel sorry for Suki. I guess I relate to my characters, even when I'm the one who makes them suffer. Isn't Aang being nice? See, I don't hate him. I just don't think Katara and Aang go that well together. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!****

Special note:  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	11. Love long lost

**Love long lost**

"Aang, I can't do this.. I'm too tired to fight about this. Zuko's going through a rough time. I'm trying to support him. Please don't hate me for that." Halfway through she started crying and it kept Aang from his anger. He walked over to her and hugged her gently.  
"What's wrong?" He asked softly.  
"Suki lost her baby.. I.. don't want to loose ours too." It was the truth, but there was more to it. Aang's eyes widened for a moment and he kissed her lips.  
"You won't loose ours, I promise."  
"You can't promise that.. Could you promise me something else?" Aang smiled warmly.  
"Yes, of course."  
"Will you.. let Zuko stay here for a while?" Aang seemed somewhat irritated, but instead of starting their argument all over he asked;  
"Why?"  
"He's our friend.. He needs our support." Katara didn't make eye-contact with Aang, instead she stared at her bedroom-floor. She'd kept this room for herself in case she and Aang had a fight or he wasn't around. It also calmed her somewhat to know she always had her own room to go to when she didn't feel the need to be around him. Katara knew it wasn't the nicest thing she'd done, but Aang often felt asleep in his study. She figured it was nearly the same thing. The airbender looked at her for a moment and smiled faintly.  
"Ok.." His girlfriend hugged him in response. Though this made him feel quite happy he knew the reason didn't lay with him, but rather with Zuko. Even if Katara wasn't ready to admit it, she did have at least a crush on him. _'I won't loose her to him.'_

"You want me to create an army for Ba Sing Se? Are you trying to start another war?" Toph was clearly surprised by their proposal and slightly mocking the firelord.  
"Yes, it seems a bit strange to start building them an army.." Haru added. Zuko raised an eyebrow at the both earthbenders.  
"If I was starting a war would I ask you to build troops for the enemy? Toph, you've seen some of the chaos in Ba Sing Se. They don't trust fire nation soldiers, which I can understand, but the chaos needs to be put to an end. Haru and you are both great benders. You'd be the perfect people to train the troops. If this is successful we could try and get earth kingdom troops in every city again, to keep the order."  
"You're not talking Dai Li like troops, right?"  
"No, of course not. They went down with my sister and they shouldn't come back."  
"Look, Toph, we're asking this because they don't trust Zuko enough and the water tribes are hard enough to run without their people being spread around the globe. The people of the earth kingdom will trust their own people more than any of us," Katara explained in a friendly tone. Aang remained silent and kept looking at his girlfriend. His eyes didn't leave her be and it made Katara somewhat nervous. Zuko had noticed as well, but he had other things on his mind.  
"I think it's an excellent idea." Everyone looked at the at the room's entrance as Iroh walked in.  
"Iroh, what are you doing here?" Katara asked, clearly happily surprised that he'd come all this way.  
"Your friend Toph thought it'd be a nice time for a reunion. I'd never miss a chance to see my nephew, you know that." Iroh smiled in a fatherly way and walked closer to their table.  
"But it is a good idea you have. I think Haru and Toph should at least try it."  
"Then it's agreed?" Zuko asked. Toph smirked faintly.  
"Sure, sparky."

"Have you come to start another fight?" Mai asked furiously. Zuko sighed softly and walked into their guestroom.  
"I haven't ever intentionally tried to start a fight with you. I just think.. we've lost what we had." Mai looked him in the eyes, she hadn't expected him to answer this way.  
"You mean you've lost interest!" She yelled back at him, furious again. Zuko shook his head faintly. _'I'm too tired for this. Too tired of this..'_  
"No, Mai, I loved you. I did. But you don't take any interest in my life. You're cold towards my friends. You always want only my attention.. I can't give you that anymore. I don't have the time. You deserve better than someone who can't give you what you want." The fire nation girl had walked towards him. Anger was in her eyes, but so were tears.  
"You never gave me a chance. You like the water tribe peasant."  
"Mai, Katara did nothing to make you disrespect her, yet you speak of her so lowly. Why? You've never taken much to my friends, our friends."  
"You were never honest with me!" Mai yelled out, a few tears escaping. Zuko was quite surprised by her reaction and that showed. Mai walked over to her bag and showed him a letter that he recognized instantly.  
"You've tried to write that peasant over a million times the past few years. You never bothered to tell me! You liked her all this time.."  
"I never acted on it, Mai. I respect you too much to do that."  
"You should've just dumped me when you felt us growing apart!" Zuko moved closer and embraced Mai, who'd now started crying and was unable to speak.  
"I'm sorry we grew apart.." He whispered softly and his wife held onto him tightly. _'I haven't been fair to her..'_****

-**  
Author's note:**  
Well, we all saw this coming; Zuko and Mai breaking up. Since the boiling rock I've grown to appreciate Mai more as a character and I believe no one should blame this or any other fanwritten break up entirely on her unless she's done something horrible (like kill someone). Even though I don't believe she's the right girl for Zuko, I don't hate her at all. I think Zuko is to blame for letting it drag on for this long as well as she is.

So, that speech aside.. Aren't you amazed at how well-behaved Aang is at the moment? Just like I believe Mai loved Zuko I believe Aang truly loved Katara as well and he's still willing to fight for her. The problem is that this relationship (in my opinion) never started out with equal/same-kind-of love.****

Special note:  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	12. Traditional hearts

**Traditional hearts**

Katara sat in the garden, on the snow. _'It'd be so nice to travel again.. I miss the weather we had on Ember Island. I couldn't just get out of here.. I have responsibilities.. but still..'_ The queen of the water tribes sighed faintly and looked at the snow. She'd made sure to dress herself to the occasion, so her unborn child and herself weren't exposed to any harm. The last few weeks had been tiring and filled with complications. Katara placed a hand upon her belly and gently caressed it, as though she was caressing her child. A soft sigh escaped her lips and the waterbender followed the small condense-cloud it'd formed with her eyes.  
"You'll have to forgive mommy for doing that.. It's been a rough few weeks." Her voice was sweet and calm, but apparently not soft enough.  
"You've started talking to the baby?" Zuko asked her as he sat down next to her. Katara had been so distracted that she hadn't noticed him approach. The waterbender nodded faintly and smiled.  
"Mai and I are going to separate if the law permits it.." The firelord seemed somewhat troubled, but Katara knew enough not to ask him any questions. His marriage with Mai had made him a better ruler in the people's eyes, it proved his dedication to the future. His dedication to providing a future heir to the firenation throne. The southern water tribe had never been as strict as it's sister tribe was. Katara wasn't forced into marrying Aang because she had the support of the northern tribe's chief and that of the former southern water tribe chief. Although she was sure her pregnancy wasn't entirely part of their expectancies. The reason she'd agreed to intercourse with Aang was because she'd never expected this herself. Now that she thought about it she hoped they'd understand once she told them.  
"It feels strange.. having to report back to someone about your relationship.. let alone an entire country," She whispered softly and the firelord looked at her. _'Her situation is even worse..'_ He smiled warmly and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.  
"It'll all turn out ok. And if not we've still got hope." He teased a bit, impersonating the actress who played Katara in the play they'd seen years ago.  
"I'm not a crybaby preaching about hope all the time, nor was I back then." She replied and gently pushed him.  
"No, not all the time." A grin appeared upon his lips as a smile did upon hers. Zuko got up to his feet and held out his hand to help her up as well. Katara held onto his hand and got up on her feet as well.  
"But honestly, I'm sure things will work out fine. We fought in a war, I can handle talking to the fire sages about this and you can handle speaking to the-.. nobles?"  
"Chief of the northern water tribe, is what you were trying to say."  
"Mai's gone back to the fire nation last night. I told her I'd take care of the separation."  
"You're welcome to stay as long as you'd like," The waterbender told him and hugged him gently. Zuko held a content smile upon his lips as he caressed her hair and back slowly.  
"Thank you."

Suki sat at the lunch table, staring at her plate. Sokka grabbed some food he knew she liked and put it on her plate. He gently kissed her cheek, smiling warmly.  
"You have to eat something, Suki.." He whispered, sitting close to her. Suki shook her head. Her eyes were red and somewhat moist, but she'd run out of tears. Though to Sokka it still felt as if she were and it nearly caused him to cry as well. There was no one else in the room, they'd already eaten and didn't object to them having some privacy. Sokka kissed Suki's lips gently and smiled at her. It took her a moment, but Suki turned towards him and wrapped her arms around him. Looking into his eyes, she was met with the same sadness as she held in hers. Suki kissed his lips passionately, holding onto him tightly as did he to her. When Sokka broke the kiss he'd immediately gotten Suki's attention. He smiled warmly at her and got off his chair, kneeled before here and grabbed something out of his pocket as he spoke;  
"Suki, I know I tell bad jokes every now and then.. Ok, almost all the time. But if you could see past that.. Marry me?" He showed her a betrothal necklace and although Suki wasn't from the water tribe she knew what it symbolized and how much work he'd put into it. Sokka had carved a fan and a sword in it, which caused her to giggle a bit.  
"Yes, of course." Suki hugged him tightly and then whispered;  
"And I love your bad jokes."

"So.. You knocked up sweetness..?" Toph asked as they walked through the palace. Aang nodded, a proud smile upon his lips.  
"Isn't that against the law.. or something?" The airbender looked at her, clearly confused.  
"You know, in the water tribes and everything. Aren't people here strict about relationships?" Aang shook his head a little.  
"I don't think the people of the southern tribe will mind that much. They'll probably be happy for us." Toph walked through, blowing a bit of her hair out of her face. _'Still optimistic..'_  
"You're sure you know them well enough to say that?"  
"Yeah. I'm not here that much, but still. I'm sure they won't mind the avatar and their queen having a child. Katara always told me she didn't like the idea of marriage. Since it has such a bad background with her grandmother.." Toph nodded a bit. _'Even you know that's not true..'_

-  
**Author's note:**  
So Zuko and Mai are looking to get out of their marriage. Mai has left to the fire nation. Katara's worried about how her pregnancy will be perceived, especially by the sister tribe. Aang doesn't realize that problem yet, but according to Toph he does realize some distance between him and Katara.

Suki and Sokka will get married! *dances* I just felt I had to do something good for them to take their mind off the miscarriage.****

**Special thanks to Scherherazade for the comment that reminded me of what I'd forgotten.. If that makes sense.**** ^^'****  
****  
Special note:**  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	13. Iroh's compassion

**Iroh's compassion**

"No, this isn't right.." The firebender fumbled the paper and threw it away, onto the mountain of paper he'd already formed.  
"It's just not good enough, this isn't how you greet an old friend after three years.." He mumbled, clearly infuriated with himself. Katara hadn't seen him this angry since Ursa had shown her the memories of him at Ember Island. _'What's he trying to do?'_ The waterbender walked over to the mountain of paper and tried to pick up one of the many fumbled papers.  
"You won't be able to do temper with his memories." Ursa spoke in a friendly tone. Katara looked around her and spotted Ursa behind her.  
"Why are you showing me this? Zuko and I are already working on our friendship." Ursa smiled warmly at the girl in front of her and put a strand of Katara's hair back behind her ear.  
"You two are progressing well, but the wounds are still gaping. You need to realize everything that went on in his mind that kept him from seeing you. Every other one of your friends came over at least once a year, but my son was always too busy. He had good reasons for his absence, just not the ones he led you to believe." Ursa placed her hand on Katara's cheek.  
"But you already knew he lied." The queen of the watertribes looked surprised, but then curious. She moved away from Zuko's mother and towards the firelord himself. Katara looked over his shoulder and started reading the letter as he wrote it. _'Dear Katara, I hereby want to invite you to my wedding-.' _As she read it he mumbled something and threw this one away as well. Katara looked back at the mountain of paper and then to Ursa.  
"I'm not surprised, but he could've tried harder. I never got any letter at all." Ursa smiled faintly.  
"But it was sent."

Katara snapped her eyes open, she never awoke peacefully from these dreams. She looked over to Aang who was still sleeping and instantly felt relieved. Slowly she got out of bed and put on her bathrobe over her nightgown. She made sure she'd be warm enough and eventually found herself in her garden. As always the ground was covered in snow, but she didn't mind being surrounded by her element. In fact she found it soothing at the moment. The queen started bending, the snow turned into water and then into ice as she controlled her element.  
"Good morning." Though Katara had expected it to be Zuko, due to his record of showing up when she least expected it, she recognized the voice to be his uncle's.  
"Morning, Iroh." She smiled warmly at the man as he approached her.  
"Firebenders rise with the sun, that's our nature. I have never slept past sunrise in my entire life." The firebender laughed a bit and smiled comfortingly.  
"Couldn't sleep?" He then asked her in a fatherly tone. Katara smiled as she remembered how easy it'd always been to talk to Iroh. It was easy to see how this man meant so much to Zuko.  
"I had a bit of a.. nightmare.." Iroh looked a bit worried, but the look disappeared as she explained further.  
"I mean, not a nightmare. Just a strange dream.. You knew Ursa.. right?" The queen seemed insecure, but managed to utter the question. Iroh sat down in the snow and Katara sat down next to him.  
"She was a wonderful woman and a great mother." When the waterbender remained silent Iroh smiled again, briefly. "Is there any particular reason you want to know about her?" Katara looked at the snow for a moment and then to Iroh.  
"I think I met her.."

"Dear Zuko, I've spoken with the fire sages and told them I was unable to bear you any children. It wasn't actually a lie, but not for the reasons they assumed. Our marriage has never been legal from this point on. This was the safest way out for both of us. Love, Mai." Even after hearing the words out loud he still couldn't believe them. With the letter he'd found a document signed by the fire sages, annulling their marriage. _'I can't believe she did this..'_  
"Is something wrong, nephew?" Iroh asked as he walked into the fire lord's room. Zuko looked up and smiled faintly.  
"Mai.. told the sages she was unable to carry my child." The tone of his voice clearly stated his nephew's surprise. Iroh approached him and placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder.  
"She cared for you. That's certain." He embraced his nephew for a moment.  
"Zuko, I need to ask you a question.." The fire lord looked at his uncle and replied;  
"What is it?"  
"Why did you come here? To the southern water tribe?"  
"I was invited.." Iroh smiled comfortingly.  
"You were never a good liar nephew."  
"I've been having these dreams. Mother told me the world needed Katara and I to form a strong union together.. To restore the balance. I keep seeing her mother as well.. nearly every night she tells me something of Katara's past." Zuko remained silent for a moment.  
"It sounds crazy, right?"  
"No, it's not. The spirits are merely trying to help your friendship with her strengthen. You two lost each other for quite a while.." A silence followed, but then Zuko spoke.  
"Is it strange to feel a distance even after all the things we've been through since I'm here? It's feels like I've had to force myself on her rather than she conveyed in me.. Which only means she prefers talking to me rather than having an argument with Aang.." Zuko sighed heavily.  
"After all these years.. I'm still bad at being good. I enjoy the time we spent.. I know I should ask her, but then she might turn to him instead.. Uncle.. What's wrong with me?" Iroh embraced his nephew again, in a fatherly manner.  
"There's nothing wrong with you. Love's a complicated emotion.."

-****

Author's note:  
It took a while to finally post/complete this one. I'm feeling kinda crappy today, but I hope you'll enjoy this one! It'll probably take me more time to post every time, because my school work has piled up..****

Special note:  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	14. New moon celebration

**New moon celebration**

"You can't be serious!" Hakoda yelled angrily at the chief of the northern tribe. In return Arnook looked at him with a look that contradicted Hakoda's statement.  
"It's not just me I've got to consider. Your daughter is pregnant and not married. It's untraditional and will not be perceived as something good by the public." Katara looked at the both of them, not knowing what to say. She wanted to fight for it, but right now.. She didn't seem to possess the strength. The queen had been pregnant for five months, Toph and Haru had begun their mission in the earth kingdom and Mai and Zuko had separated. _'So much has happened..'_ Lately the dreams of Ursa had decreased, Katara figured there weren't many more memories to show her. Either that or she and Zuko had formed the bond they'd wanted them to form. Their friendship had improved, but because of the past she still tried not to get too attached to his presence. _'He is the firelord after all.. He'll have to leave soon.'_  
"My word is final!" Arnook told the southern water tribe's chief and walked out of the room. An uncomfortable silence followed as Hakoda looked at his daughter. Katara looked away, feeling ashamed when in reality she hadn't done anything wrong.  
"Sometimes love is stronger than tradition." Her father embraced her tightly. Tears slipped down her cheek. His hand caressed her back gently.  
"Katara, I love you, no matter what." Hakoda looked into his daughter's eyes and smiled warmly.  
"But this wasn't the smartest way to handle it." He embraced her again with a warm smile upon his lips.  
"Next time tell me when I'm getting a grandchild." Katara's tears kept flowing as she held onto her father tightly, hiding her face in his shirt. A protective arm around her and one hand caressing her hair. Hakoda realized his daughter must be scared. At moments like these he missed Kya most. The times when Katara really needed her mother to assure her everything will be alright.. To help her through the steps.  
"I'll talk to Arnook for you, don't worry."

The northern water tribe's royalty had visited due to the upcoming new moon celebration. Although they hadn't always held the tradition of celebrating such a festival together, they'd decided to at least do it once in a while. Katara knew they were going to visit, but had tried not to focus on it too much. She knew once they'd found out there'd be no way to keep her pregnancy secret anymore. The queen had hoped they'd take it well, but they obviously hadn't. Her father had noticed her stomach growing, but when Sokka accused him or saying she was fat Hakoda had silenced himself. Sokka had only done this to protect his sister, that's why she appreciated his help so much, even if he might've gone overboard. Katara walked into Aang's study and left the doors open. He wasn't there, as she'd expected. _'After all he said he got word of an airbender in Ba Sing Se.'_ Most of these claims never turned out to be true, since airbenders hadn't been seen in a long time it was hard to recognize one. Katara walked over to his desk and noticed one of the drawers had a lock. She hadn't noticed this before, in fact she rarely ever entered this room at all. The queen looked around trying to find the key, but couldn't find it anywhere. _'What does he have to hide from me..?'_  
"I heard chief Arnook didn't take it well. Are you ok?" Zuko spoke, leaning against the door's opening. Katara looked up and smiled faintly.  
"What were you doing in here?" He then asked when she remained silent for a moment. She walked over to him, out of the room.  
"Nothing really.." Zuko grabbed hold of her hand as she walked through. When she looked back at him there was brief eyecontact.  
"Katara, you seem off, are you ok?" She looked at the floor, trying not to cry. The queen had been getting quite emotional lately, but she tried to brush it off as an affect of her pregnancy.  
"You can trust me." Those words, from his lips, were enough to convince her. Katara grabbed hold of him, hugging him gently. Zuko smiled warmly. It'd been a while since she'd confided in him and he'd missed her touch.  
"I'm not scared of losing the throne.." His hand caressed her back gently, his head buried in her hair. She smelled so nice, so familiar and warm.  
"I-.. want to lose the throne. I'm tired of all of this. It's not going as it should. I have no time for myself. I'm always the avatar's girlfriend, the queen of the water tribes.. The waterbender that helped end the war. I need a break." The firelord smiled warmly and looked into her eyes.  
"You're welcome to join me at my palace. The weather is nice this time of year." Katara seemed somewhat relieved and smiled warmly at him. After a moment of silence she spoke again.  
"Thank you."****

Author's note:  
I'm sorry it took so long. My Irritable Bowel Syndrome has been acting out lately, I've been pretty down because of it and decided to write again to cheer myself up. I'm hoping I'll be able to continue going to school despite the stress and feeling so bad physically and mentally.

Anyways; enjoy it, I'll try to write more soon!****

Special note:  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	15. A soothing climate

**A soothing climate**

It'd all gone by faster than she'd expected. Arnook had spoken in front of the people of her resign, the reason was known to almost all of her people. She didn't care. Her decision had been made a week ago. Luckily Sokka and Suki offered themselves to rule the country, they were to be married soon. The trust in their rulers was reinstated by the marriage, since Katara hadn't followed their traditions as she should have. None of them would've forced her to step down, but they respected the fact she'd offered up to do so anyway.

"Dear Aang, I've stepped down from my duties as a queen. It took too much energy and time from me. I needed to get away for a while and so I've accepted Zuko's invitation. I will write you regularly, I promise. I don't know how long my stay will be, but this is the break I needed. I hope things are well in Ba Sing Se. Love, Katara." Aang read the letter aloud, but it still didn't seem to get through to him completely. _'She went to Zuko's palace..'_ Aang sat down on his bed and sighed heavily._ 'Maybe she already chose him over me.. No. She's carrying my child. She's my girlfriend. He won't take her away from me.'_  
"Aang?" Toph asked, walking into his room.  
"Ah, Haru told me you were in town, twinkletoes. Did you find any other airbenders here?" The smile on her face disappeared as soon as he answered.  
"No.. not yet." His voice clearly showed the emotion he was trying to hide.  
"Did something happen between you and Sweetness?" Toph asked jokingly, trying to lighten the mood, but it didn't seem to work. Aang simply nodded a bit.  
"Not really between us.. She gave up her throne and went to the fire nation. Zuko's getting ahead of me." Aang seemed aggravated, but Toph figured he had every right to be.  
"It's not a contest. She's having your baby twinkletoes. She's your girl, not his." Toph stated, though it hurt her to say it all it seemed to cheer Aang up. He embraced her gently.  
"Thanks Toph. You always manage to cheer me up." His words were warm, comforting, but these weren't the words she'd wanted to hear. Nonetheless Toph smiled warmly and hugged him loosely.

"You'll be staying in this room, your highness." One of the servants at Zuko's palace showed her. The room was typically filled with the colours of the fire nation and was filled with all the comforts she could've asked for. Katara even had her own private bathroom, though that wasn't something unusual to someone who had been queen.  
"Oh, I'm not queen anymore. But thank you." Katara replied and entered the room. Her luggage had been placed on the desk already. The servant left and she laid down on the bed on her back. _'Finally.. some time to relax.. The weather here is so nice here. Maybe I should go into the garden, feed the turtleducklings..'_ She sighed softly in bliss and got up again. As she entered the garden she froze for a moment. Zuko sat by the pond, feeding the turtleducks. Apparently he'd had the same idea as herself. Katara smiled warmly before approaching the firelord. She sat down next to him.  
"The weather here is always so nice.." Her voice was sweet and gentle. Zuko smiled as he looked at her.  
"I don't dislike colder weather.. But that might have something to do with being a firebender. I can keep myself warm." He handed a piece of bread to Katara. She held some smaller pieces in her hand and fed one of the turtleducks from her hand.  
"Being a firebender does have it's perks.."  
"So does being a waterbender. I'd much rather be able to heal nearly fatal wounds than be able to keep myself warm. A blanket would be able to do the same." Katara giggled a little at his words.  
"I'd never expected a powerful bender like you to say that. Are you jealous of my element?" She teased a bit.  
"Why would I be? It suits you far better than it would ever suit me." Katara smiled warmly at him, then realized something.  
"Don't you have a lot of work to get done? With the annulment of your marriage.. and your absence for so long." She knew very well that the mentioning of his marriage might effect his mood, but her curiosity got the better of her. The firelord smiled warmly at her, placing his hand on hers gently.  
"Aang might've been that busy, but I've managed to balance it somehow. I'd taken most of my work with me to the southern water tribe on my visit. You don't have to worry about being lonely around here, I'm here for you. I wouldn't have offered you this if I planned to leave you alone. In that case I would've asked Suki or Toph to come along as well." His words were comfortable and gentle. Katara's lips formed a graceful smile as she looked at him. Gently she leaned forward and embraced him.  
"Thank you, Zuko. I-.." Katara was interrupted by a gentle movement inside her, a gentle kick for her child. Slowly she moved back a bit. She looked down at her stomach, placing a hand over it. _'My child.. my baby..'_ The thought brought tears of joy to her eyes. Zuko looked at her, somewhat surprised, but also very.. _'happy?'_ He hadn't expected to feel this way just from the little sensation. It wasn't even his child, he knew that very well and yet.. there was something miraculous about it.  
"Your child will be very happy to have a mother like you." He whispered into her ear as he embraced her again. He knew it was quite a bold action, but he figured she wouldn't realize his intentions in her current state. Katara smiled happily, clearly in a state of bliss.  
"I can only hope I'll be as good as your mother was."

****

Author's note:  
Ok.. so I am truly sorry! I've been too busy with everything to actually do anything at all. If that doesn't make sense to you, that's only normal I suppose. I'm kind of scatterbrained at the moment. Hope you can forgive me.

**Special note:**  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	16. Habits

**Habits**

"Your child will be very happy to have a mother like you." He whispered into her ear as he embraced her again. He knew it was quite a bold action, but he figured she wouldn't realize his intentions in her current state. Katara smiled happily, clearly in a state of bliss.  
"I can only hope I'll be as good as your mother was." Zuko failed to realize it right away, but eventually looked her way, quite surprised.  
"My mother?" Katara avoided his gaze.  
"Yes.. I.. this is going to sound crazy.. But she showed me some of your memories." She could've made up a lie about how he'd told her so much about his mother that she knew she must've been a very gentle woman, but she'd rather speak the truth. Zuko remained silent for a moment, which Katara took as a sign that he did in fact think she was crazy.  
"Me too.. I.. met your mother." It was the waterbender's turn to be surprised. After a moment of silence she asked;  
"Did my mother tell you a reason for showing you my memories?" Katara seemed to have become curious.  
"To strengthen our relationship.. form a bond between our two nations."  
"Your mother said the same."  
"You know what's strange though?" Katara added in thought.  
"The dreams haven't stopped.. and I'm no longer queen.." Another moment of silence followed as Zuko got up to his feet. Katara looked up at him for a brief moment, but then looked away. Slowly he stretched out his arm and held out his hand for her to grad hold of.  
"It's getting late.." The firebender spoke gently. She held onto his hand as she got up to her feet. Katara looked into his eyes for a brief moment. _'Just what are those dreams about..?'_ Another kick shook her from that thought. She smiled warmly and placed Zuko's hand on her abdomen.  
"Even he's getting nervous from this talk.." Katara said, teasing faintly, but there was a truth to what she said. Zuko laughed a bit.  
"He?" The waterbender nodded a bit and removed Zuko's hand. She walked through and looking over her shoulder she told him;  
"A mother knows those things."

"Dear Aang, I've missed you.." Katara sighed and shook her head.  
"That's not it.." Her voice was filled with aggravation. _'It shouldn't be this hard to write him a decent letter..'_ The waterbender sighed heavily and leaned on her desk. She looked over to the pile of try-out letters for a moment.  
"This isn't going to work..!" She suddenly heard laughter behind her and turned around. Zuko smirked at her.  
"Don't laugh, you didn't know what to write me either." She bit back at him. The firelord raised an eyebrow at her.  
"When?"  
"When you were getting married to Mai."  
"Ah, Aang replied to that one, right? That was because I was afraid your presence might bring me to my senses, I think. Yet you still did, after all these years."  
"You're blaming me for you and Mai breaking up? Wait-.. What? Aang replied to that letter? So we did get it." Katara seemed surprised to find that he hadn't forgotten to send her an invitation.  
"Yes, he wrote back that you were both too busy to attend the wedding." Katara remained silent for a moment.  
"He didn't tell me."  
"He probably has his reasons.." Katara nodded a bit. She looked at the blank piece of paper on her desk. Zuko sighed softly and sat down on Katara's bed.  
"What should I write him?" It was a question she wouldn't have asked, but right now she was desperate for the answer. Zuko smiled warmly at her and patted the bed a bit, telling her to sit down next to him. Katara walked towards him and sat down next to him, holding a pen and paper.  
"We could write him together." The firelord grabbed hold of her hand with his and started writing. It didn't take him twenty tries to get it right.  
"You're just a perfectionist," He teased her faintly. Katara smiled and leaned into him a little. He took the paper and folded it. Then Zuko wrapped his arms around her. It'd become a habit to both of them to hug each other so often. The waterbender closed her eyes and smiled warmly. Looking down on her a thought crossed Zuko's mind. _'If I leaned down to kiss her.. would she-.. No. She needs a friend. I shouldn't have any ulterior motives.'_**  
****  
****-****  
Author's note:**  
Hope this was fast enough, enjoy!

**Special note:**  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


	17. Happy ending

**Happy ending**

Katara smiled and leaned into him a little. He took the paper and folded it. Then Zuko wrapped his arms around her. It'd become a habit to both of them to hug each other so often. The waterbender closed her eyes and smiled warmly. Looking down on her a thought crossed Zuko's mind. _'If I leaned down to kiss her.. would she-.. No. She needs a friend. I shouldn't have any ulterior motives.' _Slowly he leaned down. Gently he kissed her cheek. Katara's eyes opened again.  
"Everything will be fine." He whispered into her ear. Katara wrapped her arms around him tightly.  
"Thank you."  
"For what?" Zuko asked.  
"For being there for me.."

Over the course of the next few months Katara felt herself getting closer to Zuko. She truly enjoyed his company to the fullest and they spent almost every waking minute together. Including when he was supposed to be working. Whenever he entered his study Katara simply followed him and either sat down on the couch, reading a book, or helped him with whatever he had to do. Zuko preferred the second option over the first. They worked well together and she always managed to help him when he was at a loss of words. The people of the fire nation had started speaking of a scandal, assuming they'd grown too close together and were now secretly lovers. Though it was easy to see the two had an eye for one another. She'd also resigned right before coming to the fire nation, which indicated, to them, that she had done so to be with their firelord. Although anyone could see the affection they held for one another, Katara and Zuko both denied such feelings for one another in front of the public. In truth they both knew very well they'd gotten a little too close, but only Zuko admits his feelings for her.

"Katara.. are you alright?" Zuko asked concerned about her health. The waterbender sat down and smiled.  
"I'm fine.. I'd just.. like for Tenzin to be born. It's becoming hard to do anything." Zuko smiled warmly at her and gave her a cup of tea.  
"Tenzin?" Katara nodded faintly.  
"Aang wanted his son to be named Tenzin, after his airbending master." The smile on Zuko's face disappeared. He drank some of his tea. The waterbender failed to fake a smile. Tenzin started moving, kicking her faintly. She rubbed her abdomen for a moment, calming her son.  
"He'll be here in a few days.." Zuko wasn't surprised, she'd already told him before, but he wasn't pleased to hear it.  
"Katara, You can stay as long as you want.."  
"I'll have to return home eventually," She responded, turning her gaze towards him. It was easy to tell this wasn't the response he'd hoped for.  
"You don't have to." His voice was warm, inviting as he moved somewhat closer. His lips mere inches from hers. A faint blush appeared on Katara's cheeks.  
"You could stay." He leaned in closer and their lips touched. The waterbender's eyes opened widely, but eventually closed. She wrapped her arms around his neck gently. The firebender parted his lips, caressing her tongue with his own. _'He feels so-..'_ Katara moved away.  
"I-.."  
"Katara, I love you." He told her and briefly kissed her lips again. She looked away for a moment.  
"I know you love me too, you're trying not to hurt Aang. You shouldn't sacrifice yourself for his happiness.. Follow your own feelings." Katara kissed his lips, embracing him. A passionate kiss, their tongues caressing one another's.

Aang and I split up. When Tenzin was born I let Aang see him as often as he wanted. Zuko and I got married when Tenzin turned five, there wasn't any problem between the two. The avatar even attended our wedding ceremony, having found his love elsewhere; with Toph. Tenzin was lucky enough to have four parents who all loved him. Aang got his new airbending recruit, teaching him everything he knew. Haru and Toph had managed to restore peace in Ba Sing Se. It took the people of the firenation a while before they accepted me, but I did everything in my power to win their trust.

And so a bond was formed between our two children, one that will never be broken. Although we'd never been told by the spirits to fix their relationship, Ursa and I couldn't bare for our children to be unhappy. The avatar might've been against our interference, but everything turned out for the best.****

**-******

Author's note:  
It took me a while to finally get to this.. and I'm sorry about that. I hope you all enjoyed the story! My next story will be a Skip beat fanfic.****

Special note:  
I might be opening up an avatar rpg, without the original characters but with as much of the setting of the new series as possible at this point. I'd like to build a new proboards rpg. With mature-content allowed.

But I'll need people to show some interest to actually get myself to do it. So if you've got any interest please tell me/note me/e-mail me.


End file.
